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Grub's up: Eat Ento wants everyone to start eating insects

This article was taken from the August 2013 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online. "The huge barrier is the taboo, and people's disgust at the idea," says Jon Fraser, cofounder of Eat Ento. On 15 August, he and his cofounders are launching a London pop-up with a bug-tasting menu.

If you like the cricket-seasoned butternut-squash fritters, you'll love the honey caterpillar and vegetable wraps.

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Squeamish eaters can try the grasshopper pate

Dave Lidwell

Insects are high in protein. But cockroaches and locusts are gross. Ento reframed the problem as a design challenge. In early 2012, Fraser was studying design at the Royal College of Art. Along with Jacky Chung, Aran Dasan and Julene Aguirre, he started researching food psychology, conducting experiments with members of the public by mocking up insect dishes. "One quote was really interesting: 'It's not the knowing, it's the seeing.' For many people, an insect in front of you is too much. If you abstract it, people become more accepting."

Eat Ento's fare doesn't look like insects - it's more modernist cubes than visible wings and mandibles. Sushi offered a parallel: "That's gone from being considered disgusting by the majority to delicious. We took inspiration and made a road map."

A bento box containing honey-caterpillar croquettes

Dave Lidwell

Stage one is battered insects, shared by friends at festivals.

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Stage two is a high-end restaurant featuring Eat Ento's signature cubes. "Then a takeaway lunchbox in the bento mould." Stage three is the most provocative: insect products in supermarkets. "Maybe we won't reach that within the next ten years."

Ento has funded itself by winning design awards. Now it's looking for investors for a restaurant. "It's important to have a presence -- a cultural HQ for ento eating." Entomon nom nom.

This article was first published in the August 2013 issue of WIRED magazine